Note 18 — Chapter V · Food and Drink.

The work of some kinds of moulds may be apparent to the eye, as in the growths that form on old leather and stale bread and cheese. That of others goes on unseen, as when acids are formed in stewed fruits. Concerning the work of the different kinds of moulds. Troussart says: “Mucor mucedo devours our preserves; Ascophora mucedo turns our bread mouldy; Molinia is nourished at the expense of our fruits; Mucor herbarium destroys the herbarium of the botanist; and Choetonium chartatum develops itself on paper, on the insides of books and on their bindings, when they come in contact with a damp wall.”—Troussart’s Microbes, Ferments, and Moulds.